Telegraphy system with position indicators



Nov. 9, 1937. 1 L. E. cHAUv'EAU TELEVGRAPHY SYSTEM WITH POSITION INDICATORS INVEN TOR `LUlS WHEN-EUGENE HAUVEAU ATTORNEY Filed Feb. 20, 1934 38 and the indicator.

placed in the neighborhood of the loop, while the Patented Nov. 9, 19.37

UNITED STATES.

TELEGRAPHY SYSTEM 'wrm rosmoN mnrcs'roas Application February 20, 1934, Serial No.l 712,130

. i In France February 20, 1933 1 claim. (c1. 177-311) v The present -invention is concerned with a system insuring remote control of a mobile object and imparting at each instant the position of the mobile object thus controlled to the con- 5 trol station. It may be used in connection. with the control and operation of radio-goniometers, projectors, turrets and other mechanisms in shipboard use, though the invention is not cqnned to these applications, indeed, it will be found '10 useful everywhere in tele-control mechanic or signalling work. 4

One 'of the embodiments of the invention shall be hereinafter described by reference to the attached drawing. Fig. 1 of the drawing represents the apparatus to be mounted on the mobile object, while Fig, 2 shows the control station with position indicating means.

A movable object I (Fig. 1) which consists for instance, of a radio-goniometer loop I is driven by a motor 2 by means of a worm coupling 3. The loop I could0 thus be driven by a circular movement in either sense by the motor 2. 'Ihe control electromagnets 4 and 5 which are adapted to reverse the direction of running of themotor are subject to control lby the switch' 6 of the remote control station Fig. 2.

In view of the fact that the loop I may turn a complete revolution, that is to say, turn through an angle .of 360 degrees, the system has. as -its object toindicate'at. each instant at the control station, by means of direct reading, thev exact position of the loop in' terms ofdegrees. For this purpose the system comprises three sets of elements, to wit: the numerator, the translator, I'he rst two means .are

indicator 'is mounted tion. l I 'I'he numerator comprises:

40 (1) A first distributor I which consists` of six' sectors'upon which the brush or wiper 8 comes at the remote-control *stato be positioned sequentially the said brush b'eing integral with the shaft of the coil 'and rctating at the same rate of speed as the latter, which shows that 4each of the contacts of the rst distributor corresponds to 60 degrees of the circumference.

(2) Another distributor 9 similar to the one. mentionedabove; the wiper or brush I0, of this second distributor is connected with the shaft of the ilrst one by way of a step-up gear II with a gear ratio of six to one, whence it results vthat the brush I9 turns six times faster than the brush 3; in other words, each contact of the 55 distributor 9 represents ten degrees.

(3) A third distributor I2 comprises ten sectors, its brush I3 is united with the shaft oi' the second distributor 9 by means of a step-yup gear-I4 also of a gear ratio equal six to one; whence it follows that the brush I3 turns six 5 times faster than the brush I0 and thirty-six times faster than the brush 8. In other words, each contact stud of distributor I2 thus represents 1 degree. t

The brushes of thedistributors are connected 10 with the positive pole' of a source of current, there being one Wire for each contact terminal.

The wires of the rst distributor. 'I` may be regarded as the wires of the hundreds, the wires of the second one 9 as the wires of the tens, and 15 the wires of the third I2 as the Wires of the units. It'will at once be seen that the numerator has as its object thev transformation of a continuous numeration from4 0 to 360; degrees into a discontinuous one comprising six ciphers for the hun- ,26

dreds, six'ciphers for-the tens and 104 ciphers for the units. 'I'his makes it feasible to transmit by 6 plus 6 plus 10 conductors or a. total of 22 the entire 360 indications that are required.

The translator is constituted by a relay assem- `2'5 bly, the relays being fed by the wires of the numerator. This assembly has as its object the interpretation of the indications of the numerator and their translation into an unbroken numeration from zero to 3 60 degrees, this numera- 30 tion being thereupon transmitted to the indica- 'tor by way of four wires'for the hundreds, 10

(2) six relays for the tens, DI tons, fed by way of the wires of the second distributor 9.

(3) Four short-circuitlng relays'CCI, CCI' fed lby DI, and'CCB, CO6' fed by D6.

(4) Two auxiliary relays A 5 6 and ,A I-2; (5) A zero relay Z0. The part -to be played by each one of these relays w'lli be better understood'after the followi-ng explanation: 45

` g that the loop has been stopped' by I switch I, say, in the position lcorresponding to 225 degrees, brush 8 being positioned on contact 4, brush Il upon contact stud 5, andbrush I3 on the contact stud 5. As a matter of fact, it will be seen 50 that the fourth contact stud of the first dis'- trioutor corresponds to the range extending from 181 to 240 degrees, while the fifth contact of the second distributor covers the range from 221 to or last distributor corresponds then to the fifth degree of the last range, in other words, degree 225 the latter is thus transmitted under the form of number 455.

The relays C4 and D5 of the translator are then energized. With relay A I-2 being at rest, the relayC4 will cause current to ow by way of terminal 2 of the hundreds. Ihe relay C4 passes current also by wa'y of the wire I4 through the contact I5 of. the relay D5 with the result that current is made to ow by way of terminal 2 of the tens; and at thesame time, with brush I8 being positioned on stud 5, terminal 5 of the units is fed. It wi1l,thus be seen that the terminals that are fed with current correspond to the number 225.

The terminals cf thc hundreds, tens and units u becomes visible.

-It-wiii be nctcd that these indications ci position in terms of degree for the 360 degrees of the circumference described by the coil or loop I are transmitted to theindicator by way of 4 wires for the hundreds, 10 wires forl the tens, and 10 wires for units, in other words, a cable comprising 24 conductors. This cable may be of small diameter of the type used in telephone work.

Fig. 2 shows but part of the receiving relays for the tens and the units, for the sake of simplification of the scheme; for it will be understood that the equipment in actuality contains l0 relays RD and l0 relays RU.

The diiliculty arising inacarrying such a system into practice results from the tact that since continuity of indication is lacking it is necessary that the brushes of the distributors should be so designed wide enough so as to overlap or straddle two successive contact sectors at the instant of changing from one sector to another; it is aggravated by the circumstance that the mobile object may be driven in one direction or the other. Now, the object of the relays CCI, CCI',

CCS, CCS and ZO is to overcome this diiilculty as will be better understood from the explanations to be given hereinafter on this score.

Suppose that loop I and the distributors rotate. in the direction of the arrows and that the brush 8 rides on contact studs l and 4 at the moment when the brush In is still positioned on contact 6. The relay D6 is then energized, it feeds relays CCG and CCB' which are rendered operative. At this instant the brush 8 by contact 4 tends to feed C4, but C3 and CCI are energized and by the contacts ls and l1, c4 is shortcircuited. However, no short-circuiting of the source takes place owing to the presence of resistance r4 uniting C4 with the negative pole. It wiubeseenthatCl remainsonlyenergisedas longasbrushllispositionedonsectori.

However, at the instant when brush Il overlaps pax-tlycontactslandItherelayDIisener-4 sind; it breaksbyactionofitscontact Ilthe circuitofD8whichcomestoastoprenderinginoperative C08 and CCI' C4 is no longer shortcircuited and is made operative. At the same time, .DI by its contact Il feeds CCI and CCI' -which operate; the relay C3 isthen short-circuited by the contacts 20of C4 and 2I of CCI', and relay C3 comes to rest.

At the instant DI operates, the brush I0 overlaps partly studs 6 and I, the contact I8 changes into the working position, resulting in relay ZO being energized;- the latter cuts oi the wire for unit 9 and renders the conductor for 0 alive.

It will thus be seen that the number 410 has -I, The relay DI is then energized, it 4feeds the relays CCI and CCI.' which are thus rendered' operative. At this moment the brush 8 by way of contact stud 3 tends to feed C3, but C4, CCI and CCI' are energized, while by way of contact 20 of C4 and contact 2l of CCI the relay C3 is shortcircuited. C4 only stays energized while the brush I0 is on sector I.

When brush I0 is astride contacts I and 8, the1 relay ZO operates and indicates zero.

When the brush I0 leaves sector I, DI, CCI and CCI' come to be deenergized as well as ZO; C3y

being no longer'short-circuited comes to operate at the same time as D6 is energized whence operation of CCG, CCB' short-circuiting of C4 by way of contacts I6 .and I1.

It will thus be noted that the number 369 has taken the place of number 410 at the very instant when brush I0 leaves the sector I. What follows from the foregoing description is that the part played by the relays CC I, CCI', CCG, CCB and Z0 consists in insuring a change in numeration at a precise point at the instant when brushes straddle. 'I'his particular feature in the construction allows of easier manufacture of the numeratlng means, it assures precise transmission of the indications in the absence of any break.

The part played by relays A 5 6 and A I2 is to insure suitable feeding of the terminals of the houndreds according to the position of the numera- In fact, sector I of the rst distributor 1 covers the range from 1 to 60 'degrees which corresponds always to the ligure y0 of the hundreds; it is for this reason that the contact 22 of CI feeds always terminal 0 of the hundreds. `But sector 2 corresponds to the range extending 'from 6l to 120 degrees; hence by way of C2 it must feed terminal 0 oi' the hundreds during thepassage of the nrst four tens and terminal I of the'hundreds during the passage of the last two tens, Now, the relay A 5 6 is in series with the relays DI and D6, this relay directs the wire brought from contact 23 of C2 towards the terminal 0 during the iirst four tens and to terminal I during the last two tens.

Relay A I-2 plays the same 'part in reference to contact 24 of relay C4, but it is connected in 'series with DI and D2 since the sector 4 corresponds to the range extending from 181 to 240;

ltsilrst two tens form part of hundreds I, itsA` under consideration; it requires only for control and the indications corresponding to 360 degreesthe use of a cable containing 26 conductors,

whereof two are for control action and 24 for the signaling, to be installed between the control point and the object to be controlled. The said cable could be of the kindused in telephone work as stated, of reduced cross-sectional s ize. The use of such a cable will not be prohibitive for telemechanical controls extending over short distances, say, of an order of one hundred meters or so involved on shipboard.

Where equipments involving greater distances are concerned, the same in`addition will comprise, as shown in Fig. 2, repeaters of the potentiometer or Wheatstone bridge types. Each 'of the hundreds relays of the indicator (R to RC3) has its contact associated with a resistor or voltage divider PC feeding a galvanometer GC. Similarly the relays of the tens (RDO to RDS) are united with a voltage divider PD. feeding a galvanometer GD, and the umts relays (RUB to RUS) are associated with al voltage divider PU feeding a galvanometer GU.

The indicator will be placed like the numerator and translator in the neighborhood of the movable object to be controlled.

The control station comprises only the switch 6 and the three galvanometers repeating the indications, of the indicator; in that instance, eight wires will sufce between the control station and the mechanism subject to control action though this number'. could be reduced to six by using a point common to the three galvanometers. This system makes it feasible to preserve the features of direct and instantaneous reading.

It will be clear that the foregolngembodiment is merely described'by way of example and has nothing limitative about-it. Indeed, it is possible to enlarge the number of the indications by the addition of one or more distributors giving fractions of degrees in decimals (tenths, hundredths, etc.)

The subdivision of the indications in six groups of six tens has been suggested by way of example and for the sake of argument as an easy realization in a case of indications on the 360-degree basis. But this subdivision could be varied according to any given case. A

While I have described a particular form of my invention it should not be so limited except such limitations as are clearly imposed in the appended claim.

I claim:

Apparatus for controlling a movable member remotely located ,from a control and indicating stationhaving indicating means to indicate the position of said movable member, comprising a reversibly controlled motor for driving said movable member to be controlled through different degrees of rotation, means-coupled to said motor for driving a distributor mechanism through ratio gearing means to make and break contacts proportional to hundreds, tens and unitsdegrees of rotation of said controlled member, said contacts being made to select and energize corresponding conductors leading to said control and indicating station, where said energized conductors control .corresponding relays to establish potential drops across corresponding resistors and excite separate indicators in proportion to the hundreds, tens and units degrees of rotation of said controlled member, and means for simultaneous readings of .the

. separate indicators to give an indication in degrees of the then obtained angular position of the controlled member.

LOUIS LUCIEN EUGENE CHAUVEU. 

